The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA), recently announced its 2017 gold and silver medalists. The biennial award celebrates transformative places distinguished by physical design and contributions to the economic, environmental, and social vitality of America’s cities. A nationwide committee of urban experts determined the winners from among five finalists, naming SteelStacks Arts and Cultural Campus in Bethlehem, Pa., the gold medalist and recipient of $50,000 to enhance the project.
Completed in 2016, SteelStacks is the $93.5 million transformation of an abandoned steel mill into a mixed-use cultural and entertainment district. The iconic blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel mill—which employed 31,000 people at its height and supplied steel for the Chrysler Building, the Golden Gate Bridge, and World War II battleships—now anchor a new civic commons that honors the city’s steelmaking legacy and symbolizes the rebirth of a region economically devastated by its closure in 1995.
The 9.5-acre SteelStacks campus was designed by WRT of Philadelphia and developed by a consortium led by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Bethlehem. Envisioned as a “21st century town square,” it includes a public plaza anchored by the blast furnaces as well as the Levitt Pavilion outdoor amphitheater, Bethlehem Visitor Center, ArtsQuest Center,PBS39 public broadcasting center, and Hoover-Mason Trestle Park. The project is a significant source of community pride as well as a local and regional destination, hosting 1.5 million visitors annually for events including free outdoor concerts.
Four other finalists received Silver Medals and $10,000 each to enhance their projects:
- Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building - Boston, Mass.
A community-oriented mixed-use development integrating public school headquarters, public meeting space, retail, and transit. (Submitted by City of Boston)
- Chicago Riverwalk Phases II and III - Chicago, Ill.
Reclaimed waterfront that transforms the river into Chicago’s next great civic park.
(Submitted by Sasaki)
- La Kretz Innovation Campus + Arts District Park - Los Angeles, Calif.
A cleantech incubator, education center, and neighborhood park developed by the local public utility. (Submitted by Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator and John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects)
- Iberville Offsite Rehabs I & II - New Orleans, La.
The rehabilitation of 26 scattered-site historic houses into 46 homes for low-income families. (Submitted by Kronberg Wall Architects/Planners)
RBA entries are completed projects across the contiguous United States. Finalists and medalists are determined through an in-depth evaluation process by the selection committee involving input from the award application, site visits, interviews with project participants and community members, and committee discussions.
The 2017 selection committee:
Knox White - Mayor, Greenville, SC
Kimberly Driggins - Director of Strategic Planning, City of Detroit Planning and Development Department, Detroit, MI
David Lee, FAIA - President, Stull and Lee Incorporated, Architects, Boston, MA
Willett Moss - Principal, CMG Landscape Architecture, San Francisco, CA
Deidre Schmidt - President & CEO, CommonBond Communities, Minneapolis, MN
Scot Spencer - Associate Director for Advocacy and Influence, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Medical office building planned in Fort Worth, Texas
Dallas-based TGS Architects has unveiled its design for the five-story, 130,000-sf Plaza Medical Office Building, planned for Fort Worth, Texas. The Class A development will include space for orthopedic care, surgery, breast center, diagnostic imaging, cardiovascular, and rehabilitation therapy services.
| Aug 11, 2010
Recession hits office sector
The office vacancy rate plunged by 0.9% to 18.4% during the spring, and rental rates fell to levels more than 7% below those seen last year, according to BD+C Economist Jim Haughey. A number of large office markets, such as New York and San Francisco, saw vacancy levels reach 20%. Overall, net space rentals fell during the spring in every major office market except Pittsburgh.
| Aug 11, 2010
Cost of HVAC equipment to remain flat in 2009, says Turner
While some manufacturers have announced slight increases in facilities equipment pricing for 2009, the average cost of equipment is expected to remain flat in 2009, according to the 2009 Turner Logistics Equipment Cost Index. However, equipment pricing could face increased pressure if there is a further decline in market demand.
| Aug 11, 2010
CityCenter projects get LEED Gold
MGM Mirage and Infinity World Development have received LEED Gold certification for the first three CityCenter projects: the ARIA Resort hotel tower, ARIA Resort convention center and theater, and the Vdara Hotel (above). The CityCenter developers anticipate Gold or Silver LEED certification for the project's remaining developments, which include a Mandarin Oriental hotel, a 500,000-sf retail a...
| Aug 11, 2010
BIG beats out Foster and Hadid in design competition for Kazakhstan's National Library
Invited as one of five pre-selected architect-led teams that included Lord Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid, Copenhagen-based BIG was awarded first prize in an international design competition for the new National Library in Astana, Kazakhstan. The 33,000-square-meter facility will be organized as a “circular loop of knowledge” that allows for clear, intuitive orientation of the vast co...
| Aug 11, 2010
Connecticut high school gets a expansion and renovation
The Morganti Group, Danbury, Conn., is managing the construction of a $41 million addition and renovation project at Newtown (Conn.) High School. Designed by Fletcher Thompson, Shelton, Conn., the project consists of a 70,000-sf addition and 30,000 sf of renovations to the gymnasium and interior spaces.
| Aug 11, 2010
Philadelphia cancer center seeks LEED certification
The New York office of Thornton Tomasetti provided structural engineering services for the Ruth and Raymond Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine in Philadelphia, a $232 million medical research center and advanced treatment center for cancer and cardiovascular disease. Designed by a joint venture of Perkins Eastman Architects and Rafael Vinõly Architects, the 340,000-sf facility will hous...
| Aug 11, 2010
Broadway-style theater headed to Kentucky
One of Kentucky's largest performing arts venues should open in 2011—that's when construction is expected to wrap up on Eastern Kentucky University's Business & Technology Center for Performing Arts. The 93,000-sf Broadway-caliber theater will seat 2,000 audience members and have a 60×24-foot stage proscenium and a fly loft.
| Aug 11, 2010
Office developer offers prebuilt units
Metropole Realty Advisors, owner and developer of the newly renovated 681 Fifth Avenue office building in Manhattan's Plaza District, has created a 6,000-sf, full-floor prebuilt unit that functions as both a model unit and built space for tenants unwilling to incur the cost of a build out. Designed by MKDA Designs, the space features contemporary finishes, 14-foot ceilings, and warm, neutral to...
